Ardbeg BizarreBQ

N: smoked ham, pineapple, cherry, hay M: grilled meat, caramel, dark chocolate, sea salt, seaweed F: this one lingers cinnamon, distant smoke, cherry, dark chocolate Truly excellent whisky

Signature Ardbeg smoke billows from the nose. However, there are some unique notes to this particular iteration. Besides the typical ashy peat, salty seaweed, charred oak, and vanilla, this one has a hint of cognac, dark fruit like black raspberries or black currants, some roasted artichoke, black licorice, hickory barbecued ham, and a pinch of cardamom, camphorous minty spice, with a lemony citrus balsamic note. Allow it to breathe, then take your first sip, and butterscotch wafts out. Sweet and spicy on the palate, with loads of liquid smoke. Glazed honey ham, fruit preserves and mint jelly, balsamic of Modena, and fresh cracked pepper. Full bodied, satiny and coating. The legs form slowly but remain thin, with large teardrops that disappear quickly. Quite a dry and lengthy finish, with lots of charred oak, walnuts, camphor ointment, tarry rope, and burnt on bbq sauce that’s just a bit too bitter and anesthetic even for an Ardbeg. Nose: 10 Taste: 9.5 Body: 9 Finish: 7

Ardbeg BizarreBQ is a no-age-statement peated single malt Scotch bottled at 50.9% ABV. It is matured in “a combination of double charred oak casks, Pedro Ximenez sherry casks and our unique BBQ casks.” It sells for $80-90 at MSRP, and I found one at this price. Those fuckers have done it. They have made a good Ardbeg at a reasonable price. They can make a good Ardbeg at a reasonable price. I still buy bottles of Ardbegs because they are fun to collect, even if they are horribly overpriced ripoffs for the liquid that you get. While Macallan selects only the rarest and most distinguished casks from Spain ad nauseum, Ardbeg sends Scotches into space, and uses BBQ casks. I don’t care what a BBQ cask even is. Did it contain BBQ sauce? Fine with me. Ardbeg BizarreBQ combines so much simplicity with forcefulness; it is barbaric. So imagine BBQ sauce, cherry wood smoked beef brisket, and just fucking cigarette ashtray. The finish is bacon burnt to a crisp. Cancer. I definitely get notes of malignancy. I don’t care if this was 5 years old. I don’t care if the PX influence was of poor quality and tastes like plastic. This whisky does not care. It is on a mission to bring you the smoke and bring you the BBQ. Fuck what you want because this is what you will get. From the marketing present before you open the bottle to the finish on the aftertaste, this whisky announces clearly what it is, and that has been missing from Ardbeg for so long. I remember at the start of my whisky journey being amazed at Lagavulin 16, for how meaty and manly it felt. This whisky is a whole new level of meat, BBQ sauce, smoke, and ash. If Nick Offerman has not tried this, loved this, and endorsed this, what is he even talking about?

Definitely better value than Corryvreckan. Great whisky if you can find it at msrp ~$85. Otherwise just get the uigeadail.

Don't Remember

Nose: smoke, ash, briquettes, and smoked meats. Peat, salt air, seaweed. Some sweeter malt peaks through a little, a hint of brown sugar and slight dried fruit elements. Palate: big peat and smoke here initially. Significant ash/creosote. Definitely some honey glazed BBQ meats. Strong funky peat and moderate salinity. As it coats the palate, more sweet elements come out, caramel, honey, chewy malt. Finish: ashy, brisket slathered in BBQ sauce. Lengthy. Phenolic elements come in late and linger for a while.

This is just damn good. It has all the smoke and char you would want being rounded out by the taste of hiney baked ham.